"The accident happened at canal zone, it was a miss communication between climber and belayer. Belayer thought climber was going to rappel climber leaned into rope after cleaning gear expecting to be lowered and fell."...

The man was climbing with technical gear at a popular cliff when he fell 60 feet at about 1 p.m., about a half mile from a trailhead near U.S. Highway 6, Tilley said.

Several firefighters from Highlands, Golden, Foothills and Genesee fire departments responded, Tilley said. About a dozen climbers who were nearby when the man fell helped with the rescue, she added.